South Africa's ex-president Zuma under medical treatment: Ramaphosa

Former South African president Jacob Zuma is undergoing medical treatment in hospital, President Cyril Ramaphosa said Friday, confirming reports that the 84-year-old had been in a clinic since Wednesday.

Scandal-tainted Zuma was president between 2009 and 2018, when Ramaphosa took over.

"President Jacob Zuma has not been well and he has now been put under treatment by doctors," Ramaphosa told reporters in remarks carried by the national broadcaster, SABC.

The military surgeon general had been briefed about his condition, he said.

"We wish him a very quick recovery and we want him to be well, and up, and continuing to serve the people of South Africa in whichever way."

Several local media have reported that Zuma was taken by ambulance to a medical clinic in the eastern city of Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday.

His party, MKP, said in a statement he was undergoing a routine checkup but did not give details.

"We hereby confirm that he is healthy and in good spirits," it said.

A key figure in the fight against apartheid, Zuma was elected president in 2009.

After a series of corruption scandals, he was forced to resign by his African National Congress party in 2018 before the end of his second term.

He made a stunning political comeback in 2024 when the MKP, created just months earlier, came third in national elections, scalping votes from the ANC.